Franklin County pilot begins solo trip around the world

 Long time Franklin county resident John R Bone is undertaking a trip of a lifetime beginning this week.

He plans to fly his single engine Cirrus SR22 solo around the world.

Bone flew for Delta Airlines for 37 years and retired in 2016.

He is now a pilot and flight instructor at Forgotten Coast Flyers at the Apalachicola Regional Airport.

Bone left Apalachicola on Wednesday and will fly westward for 23,382 miles.

During the trip he'll make 15 stops, visit 11 countries and return to Apalachicola in 4 to 6 weeks.

The longest leg will be from Merced, California to Maui, Hawaii which will take over 14 hours.

Additional fuel tanks will be installed in California so he can make that leg of the trip.

Captain Bone is flying as a member of the National Aeronautics Association of Washington, DC and and the flight will be conducted in accordance with the sporting requirements set forth by the Federation
Aeronautique International of Switzerland for solo Circumnavigations.

You can keep up with his travels by following his blog at https://forgottencoastflyers.com/atw-blog/

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